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tech tuesday

For my birthday, I purchased a DSLR camera in my quest to improve my photography skills. I dream of being able to snap the shutter and capture an image precisely as I envisioned it. My initial crop of snapshots proved I’m not quite there yet. So until my “eye” catches up with my fingers, I’m dependent upon the kindness of filters from the likes of VSCO Cam and Instagram. My fancy photography friends recommended to I step up my software game with Lightroom. A few clicks later, I’d downloaded Lightroom 5 only to realize it’s not nearly as intuitive as my usual apps. (Wherefore art thou, Snapseed?)

Enter Craftsy. Since learning about the platform a few years ago, I’ve purchased over 75 classes. You could say I’m a true believer (or perhaps just a sucker for those fantastic “$19.99 or less” sales.) Earlier this month, I snagged the following Lightroom courses to learn the basics. Let’s go through them one by one.

The Essential Guide to Lightroom by Skott ChandlerOverall: ♥♥♥ out of ♥♥♥♥♥ You can’t beat this class when it comes to detail. The instructor assumes you have no experience at all with Lightroom (LR5). He does an excellent job of taking you through setting your LR5 preferences to creating catalogs, collections and folders to a high-level overview of the other Modules (e.g. Develop). I like how he explained each option on the screen and the pros/cons of the different settings. As a beginner, I appreciated learning how a professional photographer leveraged the program on a day-to-day basis. Ratings-wise, I took off two hearts for incompleteness. Not all parts of the program are referenced – specifically I purchased the course to learn more about the Print/Web modules.

Lightroom Essentials: The Develop Module with Juan PonsOverall: ♥♥♥♥ out of ♥♥♥♥♥. I loved this class from start to finish. The instructor gives clear and thorough instruction on how to use the Develop module. I scribbled down so many excellent notes on how to revise my favorite photos. Since taking this class, I’ve noticed my editing speed has been cut in half. Plus, the quality of my final photos has improved significantly! Lastly, as a member of Team Touchpad, I deeply appreciated how he highlighted the relevant keyboard shortcut with nearly every action.

20 Lightroom Lifesavers by Jack DavisOverall: ♥♥ out of ♥♥♥♥♥. I returned this course as I currently have LR5. Many of the lifesavers are only available in more recent Creative Cloud versions. I kept getting excited about a new settings, only to realize I couldn’t use it. (womp womp). One good thing I got out of the course was his “5-Step Tango.” He prescribes a set of actions allow you to quickly adjust your images to an optimal state. Once completed, you only have a few small tweaks left to make.

Lightroom Unlocked: The Power of Presets with Chad CaseOverall: ♥♥♥ out of ♥♥♥♥♥. While the instructor clearly knows his stuff, I had lukewarm feelings about this course. The key learning I gained is the importance of having a workflow. Using presets allows you to streamline your editing process and process tens of photos in a very short period. You can set up a preset/template within every module from import to editing to export. I liked how he provided tips on how to export to key social media accounts (e.g. Facebook and Instagram). He failed to cover the Web module, which was the module I was most interested in learning about. Though I didn’t ask any questions, I could see he regularly engaged with his students. Nearly all questions are answered within a day or so. A fantastic response rate for this platform.

At the next Craftsy sale, I plan to snag a few more photography classes in preparation for my trip to Jordan in December.